WEEK IN HS FOOTBALL: Day 3 -- Setting a game plan

TERESA MIOLI

Published
12:00 am CDT, Monday, September 14, 2009

Most football coverage starts late Friday night when the teams hit the field and ends when the clock hits 0:00. But after the lights are turned off and the stadium seats are emptied, coaches and players are already preparing for the week ahead.

This is the third installment of a weeklong daily series that chronicles how a high school football team prepares for a game with a focus on the West Brook Bruins.

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Monday may be the start of the school week, but preparation for Friday's game is already two days in by the time afternoon practice ends.

For players and coaches, Monday's practice is about focusing on Friday's opponent.

``You have to get last Friday's game out of your mind,'' said linebacker Collin Garrett. ``Know that you have a new opponent this week and you have to refocus on that.''

To begin practice, the coaching staff briefs the team on what it saw Saturday when watching the next week's opponent's tape.

For practice, head coach Craig Stump said the team is broken down in varying stages: individual player, small group, group and team. Coaches run the different groups through base defensive and offensive sessions based on the opponent's play.

Linebacker Collin Garrett said facing practice after a restful Sunday is not easy.

``Everybody dreads Monday because you have to get up, get ready for school and then you're like `Oh, I have to get ready for football practice, I have to get focused,''' Garrett said. ``I just don't like Monday because it's right after the weekend.''

Focusing is not made any easier by an intense practice right out of the gate. Monday begins a kind of trial-and-error process to figure out how best to tackle the opponent.

``You probably see more mistakes just because we're installing different things against their defense to see if it will work or not, or how does it look,'' said Donald Douglas, offensive coordinator and receivers coach.Douglas said coaches place a lot of emphasis on Monday and Tuesday in order to mold a game plan for Friday.

``Right now we just start the game plan and get a feel for what we want to do against the opponent,'' Douglas said. ``We'll try it out today and tomorrow and on Wednesday if we like it we'll keep it, or if not, we'll throw it out.''

Coaches and players agree that Tuesday is arguably the toughest practice all week. At 24 periods each five minutes in length, Tuesday puts the team through the ringer.

``Tuesday, that's a working day,'' Garrett said. ``You're not just going through the motions, everything is fast-paced.''